New Release Round-Up 09-13-19

Korn - The Nothing - Roadrunner RecordsKorn vocalist Jonathan Davis elaborated on the forthcoming LP: “Deep, within our Earth lives an extraordinary force. Very few are aware of the magnitude and significance of this place where good/evil, dark/light, bliss/torment, loss/gain and hope/despair all exist as one - pulling at us every moment of our lives. It’s not something we can choose to navigate, but rather an awareness of this ‘presence’ that surrounds us with every breath, as if we are being watched at every moment. It’s the place where black and white energies attach themselves to our souls, and shape our emotion, choices, perspective and ultimately our very existence. There is a miraculous and small realm within this vortex and it’s the only place where balance between these dynamic and polarizing forces exists-where the soul finds its refuge. Welcome to…..The Nothing.”

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The Lumineers - III - Dualtone Music GroupTwo-time GRAMMY-nominated band The Lumineers are back with their third album, III, a cinematic piece presented as a narrative in three chapters, with each one centering on one main character. III’s concept began while the band was writing in the Catskill mountains, where producer Simone Felice works. Decidedly darker than their previous work in concept, but replete with their trademark expressive vocals and dynamic arrangements, III boldly and expertly goes in an artistic direction not yet traveled by the band. The Lumineers have enjoyed substantial commercial success; their 2012 self-titled debut featuring the hit single “Ho Hey” was certified triple-platinum in 2018, and their sophomore album Cleopatra was certified platinum in the same year after its 2016 release. They’ve had multiple #1 hits on the Triple A and Alternative radio charts, and have sold out tours across the world; over 300,000 tickets were sold on 2017’s Cleopatra world tour. The Lumineers have also supported icons and their musical heroes on the road, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and U2’s Joshua Tree tour.

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Hobo Johnson - The Fall of Hobo Johnson - RepriseThe last album was called The Rise of Hobo Johnson, and it really lived up to its name. Self-produced, self-recorded, and originally self-released in late 2017, it powered a breakout year that most musicians can only dream of, beginning with the backyard performance of “Peach Scone” that brought Hobo Johnson (née Frank Lopes Jr.) YouTube viewers by the millions, and ending with a huge, intensely devoted fan base early, anticipating his next move. That next move is called The Fall of Hobo Johnson, which is (Frank hopes) more of a metaphorical title. It’s about all of the things that Frank (the person) has gone through while Hobo Johnson (the persona) has been blowing up. Namely, a lot of falling: falling in love, falling out of it, and falling apart when it was over.

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Devendra Banhart - Ma - NonesuchMais a dedication to motherhood. The title of the album comes from the realization that the word 'Ma' is a very good candidate for our first utterance and our very last whisper, the word itself means 'Mother' in countless languages. The record contains 3 parallel narratives all pointing back to motherhood. The first is one of loss and helplessness, the narrative of a mother who reluctantly had to put up her child for adoption, still loving them, but unable to be with them. This became a metaphor for my own personal experience of observing my family in Venezuela, not being able to help in any meaningful way, and the constant feeling of complete helplessness. The second narrative is everything I would ever say to the children I may or may not have. The third narrative is one of celebration, of recognizing the Mother in each being, and of gratitude for music and its mothering qualities. Ma was recorded in Big Sur and Los Angeles, CA and was produced, arranged, and recorded with my longtime collaborator Noah Georgeson. It features appearances by many, including Cate Le Bon and Vashti Bunyan, the archetype of a mother. It will be out September 13, 2019.-Devendra Banhart

Brittany Howard - Jaime - ATO RecordsComposed and assembled over the course of several years, Jaime is a highly personal album release combining Brittany Howard's unmistakable voice with peerless, visionary and fearless songwriting. Brittany has constructed an assemblage of songs which bend the framework of what we know from her previous work with Alabama Shakes and endeavors with Thunderbitch and Bermuda Triangle, music which wholly sits in a new terrain of sound bolstered by an incredible band of musicians including Zac Cockrell of the Shakes, drummer Nate Smith and the one and only Robert Glasper.

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Keane - Cause And Effect - Island‘Cause And Effect’ is Keane's 5th studio album. Their 4 previous albums have all entered the UK charts at number 1 and accumulated sales of over 13m worldwide and 2.6 billion streams. The birth of this new album came as something of a surprise even to the band. Singer Tom Chaplin had released two successful solo albums but missed his old sparring partner Tim Rice-Oxley. Written by Keane and produced by David Kosten and the band themselves, the album features 11 new songs recorded in London.

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Robbie Robertson - Sinematic - UMESinematic is an enthralling set of songs that explore the darker corridors of human nature. The 13 song collection, is Robbie Robertson's first since 2011’s How To Become Clairvoyant and themes sprang from his recent film scoring for Martin Scorsese’s organized crime pic, The Irishman and his forthcoming documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. The album features guest stars such as Van Morrison, Glen Hansard, and many more.

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Andrew Combs - Ideal Man - New West RecordsOn his new album, ‘Ideal Man,’ Andrew Combs worked with producer/engineer Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Benjamin Booker) to achieve a more raw, direct sound. The collection was captured live in Cohen’s Brooklyn studio, with compact arrangements fueled by taut, elastic grooves. While Combs may be best known as a singer/songwriter in the classic 1970’s Laurel Canyon sense, he proves the true versatility of his work here, often setting his acoustic aside in favor of atmospheric synthesizers and distorted electric guitars. Combs worked with some of his favorite writers on the album, including Dylan LeBlanc, Jeff Trott, Joe Henry, and Kenny Childers, but the stories he tells here are deeply personal and remarkably vulnerable. A sense of danger and violence underlies the entire record, much as it does the entire country, but it only serves to make the moments of beauty and connection here that much more poignant. Life is short and the clock is ticking. Andrew Combs doesn’t plan to waste a second.

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For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.